8 POST Western Oregon Journal Office: 503.838.8347 Advertising: 503.838.9691 EDITOR IN CHIEF Paige O’Rourke porourke@ westernoregon journal.com MANAGING EDITOR Chris Reed creed@ westernoregon journal.com NEWS EDITOR Kelsey Davais kdavais@ westernoregon journal.com CAMPUS LIFE EDITOR Christina Tilicki ctilicki@ westernoregon journal.com CULTURE EDITOR Sydni Wiese swiese@ westernoregon journal.com SPORTS EDITOR Jeffrey Larson jlarson@ westernoregon
October 6, 2010
We need 2 go bk 2 a l8r tyme Picnic tables: few and far between Christina Tilicki | Campus Life Editor
When I receive a text message that uses the worst grammar I have ever seen in my life, I delete it and don’t respond. I’m not perfect; I’ve made grammatical errors in my life and am sure there are more to come. However, using shortcuts such as “r” instead of “are,” “u” instead of “you” and numbers in place of words is lazy and is leading to a trend in a generation of young adults that not only cannot spell in text messages, but use this sloppy lingo in emails, letters, papers for school, work and worst of all, in their daily language. When I hear a person say “OMG!” or “LOL!” I want to thrust a dictionary in their face and tell them to go back to kindergarten. Is it so hard to actually talk? On that note, why is it that texting, tweeting and facebooking has become one of our primary modes for communication? I abhor twitter. I don’t understand how you would
want to know that much about another person and why you would want to air out your dirty laundry to everyone on the planet. I do have a facebook page. I use it to keep in contact with good friends and family that I am not near enough to visit on a regular basis. I do not, however, use it to post every depressing thought that comes into my mind. I could care less about someone’s obsession with fantasy football or that their baby, yet again, spoke. And Farmville. Why would any moderately intelligent person spend hours each afternoon asking all of their “friends” for water to grow their crops? Seriously? Get out there
and plant a real garden and get some real friends. My sister attends a university out of state. We see one another twice a year at best and supplement our relationship with tangible letters. Certain elementary schools have stopped teaching cursive to students. Why? Because six-year-olds are marching into school with their Hello Kitty and Spiderman backpacks and an iPhone. I’m not saying that we should revert back to kerosene lamps and fountain pens. But there has to be a limit. Technology is a very dominant figure in our society but there comes a point when enough is enough. I use technology; I would feel lost without my Blackberry and there are shows I watch weekly. I can say this: You will never see me asking you to help raise my pigs in Farmville, tweeting about what color I painted my toenails or texting “C u l8r.” Everything, including technology, has a limit.
Kelsey Davais | News Editor
In my Writing 135 class, I was assigned a proposal paper that needed to describe a problem on campus and how to change it. The last thing I wanted to do was make English instructor Matt Haas read another paper complaining about book prices, cafeteria food and lack of parking spaces. I was determined to think of something that all freshmen who had to take the required writing class might not think of. I decided that I would write about picnic tables. As a freshman living on campus, I felt that I knew the ins and outs of picnic table locations on campus. I quickly realized that they were sporadically placed around campus, but none were located in the large, empty green spaces next to Heritage and Landers Halls where they might be of most use. Instead, the nearest picnic table, an ancient wooden
one, can be found by the Public Safety office where you can sit at your own risk of a sliver in your butt. You might be thinking, look further, there are picnic tables everywhere. Sure, there are a few more when you get deeper into campus such as in between the Werner University Center and Maaske Hall, but couldn’t there be more? If Western has the funding, why not add a
PICNIC SEE PAGE 9
journal.com DESIGN EDITORS Noonie nsawir@ westernoregon journal.com Sara Davis sdavis@ westernoregon journal.com Stephanie Merritt smerritt@ westernoregon
INDEPENDENCE CINEMA 8 Showtimes for Oct. 8 - Oct. 14 Matinees are all shows starting before 6PM. Tickets available at box office, WOU bookstore, and online at www.PrestigeTheatres.com. No passes on starred (*) attractions.
THE TOWN (R) (3:50) 9:15
journal.com COPY EDITOR Blakelee McCulley bmcculley@ westernoregon journal.com PHOTO EDITOR Emily Laughlin elaughlin@ westernoregon journal.com WEB EDITOR Noonie nsawir@ westernoregon
WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS (PG13) (1:00) 6:30 LIFE AS WE KNOW IT (PG13) (11:30 1:55 4:25) 7:00 9:40 LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS: OWLS OF GA’HOOLE (3D) (PG) (12:10 2:40 5:00) 7:25 9:55 SECRETARIAT (PG) (12:50 3:35) 6:20 9:05 MY SOUL TO TAKE (3D) (R) (11:45 2:20 4:50) 7:20 10:05 YOU AGAIN (PG) (11:50 2:15 4:40) 7:10 9:35 LET ME IN (R) (1:05 3:40) 6:10 9:00
journal.com ADVERTISING MANAGER Jawan Mullen jmullen@ westernoregon
*SOCIAL NETWORK (PG13) (1:15 4:00) 6:45 9:25
journal.com STUDENT MEDIA ADVISER Shelby Case cases@wou.edu
www.westernoregonjournal.com
450 S. 2nd Street Independence, OR 97351 503-606-3000 | www.IndependenceCinema8.com
Letters to the editor Letters to the editor must be signed with submitter’s name, affiliation (if applicable) and include a physical address, e-mail and phone number. Letters may be edited for grammar, punctuation and spelling, but never for content. Letters to the editor may be up to 250 words. The Journal reserves the right to run letters to the editor that are over 250 words if space allows it. DEADLINE: Letters to the editor must be submitted no later than Monday at 12 p.m. in order to run in the paper the following Wednesday. The Western Oregon Journal cannot guarantee the publication of all letters due to space limitations. SUBMIT: Letters to the editor may be submitted to editor@westernoregonjournal.com or in person at the Student Media office located in the WUC during scheduled staff and adviser hours. Students can also comment on any story online by visiting the Journal’s site: www.westernoregonjournal.com. The Western Oregon Journal, published for use by Western students, faculty and staff, is private property. A single copy of each week’s Journal is free from campus newsstands. Unauthorized removal of multiple copies will be considered theft and is prosecutable.